Artfossil

Petrified Wood

Araucaria

Triassic & conifers

If we want to talk about Arizona petrified wood, the story starts during the Triassic. A period of 250 to 200 million years ago. During the Triassic, the continents were still united in the supercontinent Pangea, which will begin its drift after the Triassic. If we talk about the type of tree, we are sure that it is a conifer, because deciduous trees do not yet exist. One of the then living species of coniferous trees is the Araucaria (Monkey Tree). This tree will form the basis of our Arizona petrified wood.

Permian-Triassic mass extinction

Major mass extinctions occur at both the beginning and end of the Triassic. The Triassic was initiated by the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, the extinction of more than three-quarters of all animal species living at the end of the Permian. At the beginning of the Triassic, biodiversity was extremely low, which, however, gave new species the opportunity to develop. This is how dinosaurs, pterosaurs (which could fly) and (small) mammals emerged during that period. Although some dinosaurs grew to around six meters in length during the Triassic, the truly larger dinosaurs did not appear until the Jurassic.

dino

Triassic-Jurassic extinction

The Triassic ended, just as it had begun, with a major mass extinction. Some of the first early dinosaurs became extinct, but other species survived to evolve in the Jurassic. Among the plants, many species of conifers survived. It is not certain what caused the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. It is clear that large-scale volcanism occurred around 208-213 million years ago, associated with the breakup of Pangea. It is that period, full of storms and volcanic eruptions, that the next step of the process is initiated.

Interested in the sequel?

Be sure to come by and we will tell you how the petrified wood was created.

Our showroom can only be visited by appointment. A visit is without obligation.

Contact us via info@artfossil.be or via +32(0)468 48 89 94.

Group visits are also possible.

_Q3A8164 corr 2

artfossil newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter!